Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Michael Oskin
Institute for Crustal Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-1100, USA
Joann Stock
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
ABSTRACT This result suggests that most of the crustal dextral displacement has occurred in the Gulf
area formed by opening of the Upper Delfn of California (Silver and Chappell, 1988; Gas-
Correlation of conjugate rifted margins basin was either exhumed from lower- til et al., 1991, 1973) (Fig. 1). Geologic rela-
of the Upper Delfn basin constrains the crustal levels or is new transitional oceanic tionships in southern California indicate that
timing and amount of transtensional open- crust. most or all of this displacement occurred after
ing along the PacificNorth America plate 12 Ma (Ehlig et al., 1975; Crowell, 1981).
boundary in the northern Gulf of Califor- Keywords: Gulf of California, Mexico, rift- Correlation of synrift pyroclastic deposits
nia. Lithologic, geochemical, paleomagnet- ing, ignimbrite, plate motion, palinspastic from the Puertecitos volcanic province of Baja
ic, and geochronologic data from a set of restoration. California to Isla Tiburon and coastal Sonora
four ignimbrites, consisting of eight distinc- supports 255 6 10 km of opening of the Up-
tive cooling units, are shown to correlate per Delfn basin of the northern Gulf of Cal-
INTRODUCTION
from northeastern Baja California to Isla ifornia (Oskin et al., 2001) (Fig. 2). These re-
Tiburon and adjacent areas of western So- sults suggest that the PacificNorth America
nora. These matching ignimbrites are the The Gulf of California of southwestern
plate boundary became localized in the Gulf
ca. 12.6 Ma tuff of San Felipe, the 6.3 6 0.2 North America (Fig. 1) presents an exception-
of California during latest Miocene time. With
Ma tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada (Tmr3 and al opportunity to examine the formation of a
adequate geologic control, fundamental tec-
Tmr4), the tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon young ocean basin within an evolving conti-
tonic problems such as the roles of strain rate,
(Tmr5), and the 6.1 6 0.5 Ma tuffs of Ar- nental orogen. Opening of the Gulf of Cali-
preexisting weaknesses, and strain partitioning
royo El Canelo. Offset distributions and fa- fornia is the result of transform motion and
in localizing continental rifting may be ad-
cies patterns of these ignimbrites support extension between the Pacific plate and the
North America plate (Atwater, 1970). The tec- dressed from the geology of the Gulf of Cal-
255 6 10 km of opening between conjugate ifornia. Critical geologic parameters from the
rifted margins of the Upper Delfn basin. tonic setting of the Gulf of California and
southwestern North America (Fig. 1) is well Gulf of California are the rate of transfer of
Addition of deformation from the continen- Baja California to the Pacific plate and the
tal margins of this basin indicates at least understood from the perspective of continental
geology (Burchfiel et al., 1992; Stewart, 1998; amount of crustal attenuation that accompa-
276 6 13 km of PacificNorth America
Stock and Hodges, 1989; Gastil et al., 1991) nied this transfer. Until recently, no record has
plate motion between coastal Sonora and
and from marine plate-tectonic studies (Stock been documented that directly measured total
the main gulf escarpment in Baja Califor-
and Molnar, 1988; Lonsdale, 1989; Atwater offset, offset rate, and crustal attenuation in
nia since ca. 6 Ma; a further 20 6 10 km
and Stock, 1998). Opening of the Gulf of Cal- the Gulf of California.
of northwestward displacement of Isla Ti-
ifornia followed the termination of subduction This paper expands on the initial findings
buron relative to coastal Sonora occurred
west of Baja California Sur at 12.5 Ma (Mam- reported by Oskin et al. (2001) to document a
sometime after 12.6 Ma. These reconstruc-
merickx and Klitgord, 1982; Spencer and Nor- complete record of PacificNorth America
tions agree with earlier estimates of slip
mark, 1979). Magnetic lineations at the mouth plate motion in the northern Gulf of California
across the Gulf of California and on the
San Andreas fault system of southern Cal- of the Gulf of California record .85% of and its surrounding rifted continental margin.
PacificNorth America plate motion since 3.5 Four principal pyroclastic flow deposits, con-
ifornia, but require that the PacificNorth
America plate boundary became localized Ma and .95% of the plate motion since 1 Ma sisting of a total of eight separate cooling
in the gulf at ca. 6 Ma. The restored con- (DeMets, 1995; DeMets and Dixon, 1999; units, are correlated from Baja California to
tinental margins of the Upper Delfn basin Dixon et al., 2000). Isla Tiburon and coastal Sonora. Oskin et al.
show that only a 2025 km width of upper Continental geologic records define the tec- (2001) described initial results from matching
continental crust has foundered beneath tonic history of the Gulf of California prior to two of these pyroclastic flow deposits: the ca.
this part of the northern Gulf of California. 3.5 Ma. Offset Paleozoic metasedimentary 12.6 Ma tuff of San Felipe, consisting of a
rocks, Mesozoic batholithic rocks, and Tertia- single cooling unit (Stock et al., 1999), and
E-mail: oskin@crustal.ucsb.edu. ry conglomerates indicate that ;300 km of the 6.3 6 0.2 Ma tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada
GSA Bulletin; October 2003; v. 115; no. 10; p. 11731190; 12 figures; 3 tables; Data Repository item 2003134.
Previous Studies
TABLE 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF CORRELATIVE PYROCLASTIC FLOW DEPOSITS FROM CONJUGATE RIFTED MARGINS OF THE UPPER DELFIN BASIN
trending paleocanyons on Isla Tiburon and in and western Isla Tiburon (Fig. 4). Additional fills west-trending channels cut into volcanic
the northern Puertecitos volcanic province. A pathways may exist in unmapped areas of the and volcaniclastic strata in the south and base-
single 3-km-wide paleocanyon in the northern Sierra Kunkaak or beneath the channel be- ment in the north. On the southern part of the
Sierra Kunkaak is the only known pathway for tween Isla Tiburon and the mainland. On conjugate margin in northeastern Baja Cali-
the tuff of San Felipe between coastal Sonora western Isla Tiburon, the tuff of San Felipe fornia, the tuff of San Felipe also occupies
TABLE 2. TRACE ELEMENT ANALYSES AND COMPARISON OF CORRELATIVE TUFFS Sierra San Fermn instead of a range-wide av-
Trace Tuff of San Felipe Tmr3 Tmr4 Other erage, we find that the inclination and decli-
element PVP nation of Tmr3 (type 2) and Tmr3b relative to
(ppm) Coastal Isla Baja S. San Isla S. San Isla rhyolites##
Sonora Tiburon California Fermn# Tiburon Fermn Tiburon Tmr4 are consistent throughout the Baja Cal-
Y 51.8 52.6 48.151.9 53.6 55.4 26.7 27.6 2057 ifornia margin and consistent with Tmr3 out-
U 5 5 45 4 4 3 4 04 crops on Isla Tiburon (Oskin et al., 2001).
Rb 176.3 195.4 166188 155.6 149.8 124.9 129.9 80127
Th 17 18 1618 12 12 10 10 413
Distinct remanent paleomagnetic directions
Pb 28 25 2728 29 19 23 15 828 from unit Tmr3 (type 1) of Santa Isabel Wash
Ga 21 22 020 23 23 16 16 1621 and unit Tmr3a of the Sierra San Fermn sup-
Nb 24.6 25 22.524.4 20.5 21.1 11.9 12.6 7.619.5
Zr 315 321 384402 329 320 168 177 98432 port the interpretation that these units are in-
Sr 90 35 1960 65 44 88 68 72263 dividual, local members of the tuffs of Mesa
Zn 91 85 5776 107 109 68 42 2480 Cuadrada.
Ni 2 1 89 1 2 1 1 316
Cr 2 6 02 0 4 2 6 08 The distribution and facies of the tuffs of
V 2 2 758 4 2 3 3 042 Mesa Cuadrada correlate closely between
Ce 123 127 111120 94 94 56 57 2087
Ba 78 39 5256 428 460 1093 996 7051184
northeastern Baja California and Isla Tiburon.
La 54 56 5456 43 38 27 26 1344 These ignimbrites comprise the largest of the
Note: Trace element analyses (XRF [X-ray fluorescence]) were done at the University of Massachusetts, ca. 6.3 to 6.1 Ma tuffs in both volume and areal
Amherst. See Rhodes (1988) for typical values of analytical precision from this facility. Analyses reprinted from extent, covering over 2100 km2 with ;120 km3
Oskin et al. (2001) Data Repository. of pyroclastic deposits (Table 3). The northern
Sample number BK-99-05, 28.8808N, 112.0018W.
Sample number BV-99-30, 28.9798N, 112.4588W. extent of outcrops is well exposed in the north-
Range of values for samples of the Tuff of San Felipe from Baja California (Stock et al., 1999). ern Sierra San Fermn and Sierra San Felipe of
#
Sample number SF-92-64, 30.5948N, 114.7568W.
Sample number BV-99-08, 28.9178N, 112.4478W.
Baja California and the Sierra Alta of Isla Ti-
Sample number SF-92-101, 30.5668N, 114.7908W. buron (Fig. 6). The southern extent of outcrops
Sample number TIB-98-17, 28.9798N, 112.4768W. is well exposed in the Sierra Menor of Isla Ti-
##
Range of values for other high-SiO2 rhyolite samples from the Puertecitos area reported by Martn-Barajas
et al. (1995). PVPPuertecitos volcanic province. buron but obscured by younger volcanism in
the Puertecitos area of Baja California. Thick,
higher-grade deposits of the tuffs of Mesa
Cuadrada crop out adjacent to the eastern part
paleocanyons cut into volcaniclastic strata citos volcanic province measured by Martn- of Arroyo Matom, in the southern Sierra San
(Fig. 4). In the northern Sierra San Fermn and Barajas et al. (1995). The concentrations of Fermn, and in the Santa Isabel Wash area in
the adjacent Sierra San Felipe, the tuff of San these and other trace elements in Tmr3 are Baja California and the central Sierra Menor of
Felipe formed a sheet ponded over basement distinct from the tuff of San Felipe, as are the Isla Tiburon (Fig. 6).
rock, arkosic sandstone, and locally derived compositions of feldspar and pyroxene phe- Facies changes within the tuffs of Mesa
fluvial deposits. The thickest and highest- nocrysts (Oskin et al., 2001). Isotopic ages of Cuadrada associated with younger rhyolitic
grade deposits of the tuff of San Felipe occur Tmr3 from the Isla Tiburon overlap isotopic volcanism suggest a vent for this ignimbrite
in the northern Sierra San Fermn and adjacent ages of 6.3 6 0.2 Ma for Tmr3 from Baja located within a 2030-km-diameter area cen-
parts of the Sierra San Felipe, northern Isla California (Stock, 1989; Lewis, 1996; Nagy et tered at the eastern end of Arroyo Matom
Tiburon, and mainland coastal Sonora (Fig. 4). al., 1999; Oskin, 2002) (Table 1). A sample (Fig. 6). In Baja California, abrupt thickness
The southern limit of the tuff of San Felipe of Tmr3 from western Isla Tiburon (Fig. 6) changes in higher-grade Tmr4 occur southeast
may also correlate across the Gulf of Califor- was dated by Gastil et al. (1979) at 5.7 6 0.6 of Mesa Cuadrada, at Santa Isabel Wash, and
nia, but a cover of younger volcanic rocks Ma (sample no. 1012, K-Ar on feldspar). in the southern Sierra San Fermn. These
limits exposures. The northern limit of the tuff On the basis of paleomagnetic measure- abrupt thickness changes may reflect under-
of San Felipe on the Sonoran margin appears ments, Nagy (2000) distinguished two types lying topographic relief caused by subsidence
to have been controlled by paleotopography. of Tmr3 and suggested that neither Tmr3 due to a prior eruption (e.g., Tmr3) and are
Outcrops north of Isla Tiburon may be flooded (type 1) nor Tmr3 (type 2) of Santa Isabel inferred here to overlie caldera-collapse struc-
by the Gulf of California or possibly were re- Wash may be correlative to Tmr3 units tures (Fig. 6). This same region encloses an
moved by erosion. mapped by Lewis and Stock (1998a). Reex- area of extensive rhyolite lava flows and late
amination of individual sample localities re- Miocene and younger andesite volcanoes that
The Tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada veals that the range-wide averaging technique probably filled in the collapsed area (Oskin
used by Nagy (2000) to test these correlations and Stock, 2003b).
The tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada (Figs. 5 and 6) included more samples of Tmr4 from a zone
comprise two cooling units, Tmr3 and Tmr4, of greater clockwise vertical-axis rotation in Tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon
with intercalated Tmr3t nonwelded pyroclastic the southern Sierra San Fermn (Lewis, 1994).
deposits. Tmr3 and Tmr4 form a distinctive This approach biased the average declination The tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon (Figs. 7
pair of flow deposits with contrasting litholo- for Tmr4 relative to the average declination of and 8) in Baja California form two nearly
gy and paleomagnetic remanence (Table 1). Tmr3 units from the Sierra San Fermn; the identical cooling units, Tmr5 and Tmr6 (Table
Geochemical analyses (Table 2) show that, result was that the Tmr3 units of Lewis and 1). Pumice and phenocryst content of outcrops
similar to the tuff of San Felipe, cooling unit Stock (1998a) appeared paleomagnetically on Isla Tiburon best supports correlation to
Tmr3 is also higher in Nb, Ce, Rb, and La distinct from the Tmr3 of Santa Isabel Wash. cooling unit Tmr5. Cooling units Tmr5 and
than any other silicic rocks from the Puerte- By using individual sample localities from the Tmr6 in Baja California both preserve normal-
Figure 4. Distribution of the tuff of San Felipe in (left) Baja California and (right) coastal Sonora and Isla Tiburon. Tuff outcrops
shown in black; stratigraphic thickness measurements in meters shown as numbers. Isopachs of tuff thickness shown as thin black lines
surrounding gray patches. Darker shades of gray indicate thicker deposits: 30 m contour intervals show thicknesses up to 90 m;
thicknesses above 90 m not contoured. Dashed and dotted lines reflect uncertainty in isopach positions. Outcrops of the tuff of San
Felipe fill west-trending paleocanyons on Isla Tiburon and the southern quarter of the outcrop area in Baja California. Thicker outcrops
of the tuff of San Felipe on coastal Sonora are related to a probable vent located east of Punta Chueca. The boundary of isopachs in
coastal Sonora was arbitrarily placed east of all mapped outcrops of the tuff of San Felipe on coastal Sonora. Additional deposits of
the tuff of San Felipe probably exist east of the mapped area.
densely welded throughout the section with side of this barrier. Outcrops of the thick, posed 255 6 10 km of opening of the Upper
post-emplacement rheomorphic flow linea- moderately to densely welded tuff of Arroyo Delfn basin in the northern Gulf of California
tions) form a more restricted distribution cen- El Canelo occur adjacent to the coastline of since the 6.3 Ma time of emplacement of
tered on outcrops of intra-caldera deposits in Isla Tiburon from the central Sierra Menor Tmr3 (e.g., Fig. 6). Alternative restorations of
the eastern Arroyo Matom area (Fig. 9). Pa- northward to Punta Reina, where outcrops of 245 and 265 km illustrate the robustness of
leotopography formed during eruption of the this ignimbrite abruptly terminate (Fig. 9). this reconstruction (Figs. 10A and 10C). Dis-
tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada (caldera wall(?) in These thick deposits are separated by normal tributed dextral displacement of ignimbrite
Figs. 6 and 9) acted as a buttress against faults and buttress unconformities from thin- distributions is shown to support 41 6 13 km
which the tuffs of Arroyo El Canelo were de- ner sections to the east. of additional plate-boundary motion between
posited. On Isla Tiburon, thick deposits of the Baja California and mainland Sonora (Fig.
tuffs of Arroyo El Canelo crop out in two ar- DISCUSSION 11). By comparison of these results to plate-
eas adjacent to the western coastline. Thick motion circuit data, Oskin et al. (2001)
high-grade deposits occur in the southwest Si- Pyroclastic flow deposits offset across the showed that the PacificNorth America plate
erra Menor, south of a paleotopographic bar- northern Gulf of California permit restoration boundary became localized in the Gulf of Cal-
rier that was the southern limit of the tuffs of of PacificNorth America displacement (Figs. ifornia during latest Miocene time. A more
Mesa Cuadrada (Fig. 6). The tuffs of Arroyo 10, 11, and 12). This analysis builds on the complete compilation of these data presented
El Canelo may have ponded here on the south initial study of Oskin et al. (2001), which pro- here, which includes distributed deformation
TABLE 3. VOLUME ESTIMATES OF CORRELATIVE ASH-FLOW TUFFS of the continental margin, further restricts the
Unit, location Area enclosed by contour Maximum Volume time of localization of the plate boundary. The
(km2) thickness (km3) record of plate-boundary motion from the
(m)
0m 30 m 60 m 90 m Gulf of California is shown to place signifi-
Tuff of San Felipe cant boundary conditions on models of the
Baja California 3360 1390 540 220 180 118 San Andreas fault system in southern Califor-
Isla Tiburon 440 300 60 85 17 nia. Close restoration of conjugate rift margins
Coastal Sonora 330 280 220 170 135 25
also restricts tectonic models for crustal evo-
Total: 160 lution of the Upper Delfn ocean basin.
Tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada
Baja California 1790 1270 850 330 110 98
Isla Tiburon 350 250 160 90 190 22 Map-View Restoration of Conjugate
Total: 120 Rifted Margins
Tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon
Baja California 110 30 20 74 3
Isla Tiburon 50 10 38 1 Map-view restoration of conjugate rifted
Total: 4 margins of the northern Gulf of California re-
Tuffs of Arroyo El Canelo quires 255 6 10 km of opening of the Upper
Baja California 590 290 230 180 325 41 Delfn basin since eruption of the tuffs of
Isla Tiburon 150 50 10 60 4
Mesa Cuadrada at 6.3 6 0.2 Ma (Oskin et al.,
Total: 45 2001) (Fig. 10). The best-fit restoration is sat-
Area measurements do not account for extension of the outcrop area after deposition and may overestimate isfied solely by motion parallel to the Tiburon
the volume of tuffs by up to a factor of two. Fracture Zone and Ballenas transform fault in
The 0 m contour was multiplied at 1/2 contour interval (15 m). Each complete contour above 0 m was multiplied
at 1 contour interval (30 m). Final contour interval was multiplied at 1/2 contour interval (15 m) 1 1/3 remaining the Gulf of California (3108 to 3128, Fig. 2;
thickness. Fenby and Gastil, 1991). The actual path of
The area and the volume estimate presented here account only for outcrops west of the coastal zone. Thick
outcrops of the Tuff of San Felipe in coastal Sonora indicate that there is likely to be additional tuff farther east.
opening between of the Upper Delfn basin
may have involved other components of mo-
tion. However, these other components must
be much less significant than motion parallel
to transform faults formed and lengthened by
opening of the Upper Delfn basin (Fig. 2). To
Figure 5. Field photographs of the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada. (A) Close-up of the basal vitrophyre of the Tmr4 cooling unit, overlain by
densely welded tuff affected by spherulitic alteration, Sierra Menor, Isla Tiburon. (B) Tmr3 and Tmr4 cooling units of the tuffs of Mesa
Cuadrada unconformably overlying an eroded remnant of the tuff of San Felipe, Punta Reina, Isla Tiburon. Note that multiple cooling
horizons have developed in thick Tmr3 at this locality. Sea cliff is ;200 m high. (C) Close-up of Tmr3 outcrop, showing crystal- and
lithic-rich composition, Sierra San Fermn, Baja California. Lens cap is 5.5 cm in diameter.
Figure 6. Distribution of the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada in (left) Baja California and (right) Isla Tiburon. See Figure 4 for explanation of
isopach map symbols. Enclosed areas of nondeposition of the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada correspond to paleotopographic highs. Adjacent
paleocanyons and basins are filled with as much as 190 m of the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada. Tuff thickness changes abruptly near proposed,
partially buried caldera-wall features in Baja California. The eastern edge of tuff distribution was probably controlled by fault-bounded
relief on the west side of the Sierra Kunkaak. Isopachs of tuff thickness are inferred to terminate against this boundary. Rhyolite sample
1012 of Gastil et al. (1979) probably came from an outcrop of Tmr3 on Isla Tiburon, as shown by circled star.
account for rotation of 4.08 about the modified canic province. The best fit of these tie lines erra San Fermn region of Baja California cor-
NUVEL-1A PacificNorth America Euler is depicted on the map-view restoration of 255 relate to the Punta Reina region of Isla
pole (lat 50.58N, long 75.88W, DeMets and km of displacement (Fig. 10B). Fits with 245 Tiburon (Figs. 6, 8, and 9). Here, the tuffs of
Dixon, 1999), Sonora and Isla Tiburon are ro- km and 265 km of displacement parallel to the Dead Battery Canyon and the tuffs of Arroyo
tated 2.38 counterclockwise in map view rel- transform faults illustrate the limits of the res- El Canelo abruptly pinch out above the tuffs
ative to true north. The restoration path de- toration (Figs. 10A and 10C). The partitioning of Mesa Cuadrada. South of this tie line, thick,
fined by the Tiburon Fracture Zone and of dextral displacement between the Ballenas high-grade welded, and intracaldera facies of
Ballenas transform fault is slightly counter- transform fault and the Tiburon Fracture Zone the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada and the tuffs of
clockwise of a 3148 vector of PacificNorth (Fig. 2) depends upon the restoration of Isla Arroyo El Canelo fill in the inferred eruptive
America plate motion at Puertecitos calculated Angel de la Guarda to an uncertain position center at Arroyo Matom. The 255 km resto-
with this same Euler pole. Distributed defor- south of Isla Tiburon (Lonsdale, 1989; Stock, ration shows that thick deposits of these units
mation of the Baja California margin (de- 2000). This uncertainty does not affect the in the central and southern Sierra Menor orig-
scribed in Lewis and Stock, 1998a) may ac- summed displacement measured here. inally were adjacent to the mouth of Arroyo
count for this difference, as discussed later in The distribution of the ca. 6.3 to 6.1 Ma Matom. North of the southern Sierra San Fer-
the following section. tuffs constrains the amount and uncertainty of mn and Punta Reina, only the tuffs of Mesa
The amount and uncertainty of the 255 km dextral displacement across the northern Gulf Cuadrada are present. Both the thickness and
restoration (Fig. 10) were determined by the of California since late Miocene time (Fig. welding grade of cooling unit Tmr3 decrease
limits of a reasonable fit between tie lines 10). In particular, several stratigraphic transi- northward in the Sierra San Fermn of Baja
from the tuffs of the northern Puertecitos vol- tions in the Arroyo Matom and southern Si- California and the Sierra Alta of Isla Tiburon.
Figure 8. Distribution of the tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon in Baja California and Isla Tiburon. See Figure 4 for explanation of isopach
map symbols. Paleotopography and limited tuff volume probably restricted distribution of the tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon. Enclosed
area of zero thickness on Isla Tiburon indicates a paleotopographic high. A paleocanyon located northeast of this high and a basin
located southeast of this high each contains eastward-thinning outcrops of the tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon. Proposed caldera wall
corresponds to abrupt thinning of these ignimbrites from .30 m to ,5 m thickness in the southern Sierra San Fermn.
gin amounts to 21 6 9 km of displacement which may indicate a large amount of dextral directed extension across this zone. Basalt
(Lewis and Stock, 1998a). A vector sum of 23 and/or normal displacement. The La Cruz flows exposed in both of these areas may also
6 9 km of dextral displacement at an azimuth fault is interpreted here as an early strand of correlate. Another zone of dextral displace-
of 3408 with 255 6 10 km of opening of the the Tiburon Fracture Zone that forms the ment, the northwest-striking Sacrificio fault,
Upper Delfn basin at an azimuth of 3128 southern margin of the Upper Delfn segment separates the area of distributed shear on the
yields a combined vector of 276 6 13 km of the Gulf of California (Fig. 2). The block southwest from the Seri block on the northeast
(errors summed as root mean squares) at an south of the La Cruz fault was probably trans- (Fig. 11). The total displacement across this
azimuth of 3148, parallel to the modified NU- ferred across the Tiburon Fracture Zone dur- structure is difficult to estimate, because no
VEL-1A direction of DeMets and Dixon ing the earliest stages of opening of the Upper volcanic strata match across the fault. How-
(1999) for Puertecitos. Delfn basin (Fig. 11). Slip along this fault ever, outcrops of a distinctive conglomerate in
The La Cruz fault forms a zone of discrete therefore should not be included as an addi- the Sierra Seri preclude displacement on this
dextral displacement mapped through south- tional component of the opening of the Upper structure that would sum with other offsets to
ern Isla Tiburon (Fig. 11). Neither the timing Delfn basin. exceed the ;300 km estimated for the Gulf
of motion nor the amount of offset across the A northwest-trending zone of dextral shear of California by Gastil et al. (1973). Because
La Cruz fault are well constrained. The only and rotation is inferred on the mainland Sono- 276 6 13 km and 20 6 10 km of displace-
deposits to correlate across the fault zone are ran margin and northeastern Isla Tiburon (Fig. ment (296 6 17 km total) is already accounted
post6 Ma marine rocks and pyroclastic flow 11). Offset of high-grade welded tuff of San for, strike-slip displacement on the Sacrificio
deposits (Oskin and Stock, 2003a). Deposits Felipe between Punta Chueca and the northern fault is unlikely to exceed a few tens of
from the middle Miocene volcanic arc on ei- Sierra Kunkaak suggests 20 6 10 km kilometers.
ther side of the La Cruz fault do not correlate, of dextral displacement and/or northwest- Distributed dextral deformation may also be
Figure 9. Distribution of the tuffs of Arroyo El Canelo in Baja California and Isla Tiburon. See Figure 4 for explanation of isopach
map symbols. Tuff thickness changes abruptly near proposed caldera wall features in Baja California. PHPaleotopographic high that
formed a buttress that blocked deposition of the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada. The tuffs of Arroyo El Canelo overtopped this buttress and
were deposited further south than the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada (compare to Fig. 6). The eastern edge of tuff on Isla Tiburon was probably
controlled by fault-bounded relief on the west side of the Sierra Kunkaah. Isopachs of tuff thickness are inferred to terminate against
this boundary.
inferred from paleomagnetic declination data tributed to displacement of correlative out- Santa Rosa basin in Baja California (Gastil et
from Isla Tiburon and mainland coastal So- crops between Punta Chueca and the northern al., 1973) preclude a large dextral offset across
nora (Fig. 11). Localities on Isla Tiburon show Sierra Kunkaak by 20 6 10 km. the Sacrificio fault. On the basis of the strati-
minor, 58158 clockwise vertical-axis rotation In summary, the total distributed dextral graphic and paleomagnetic arguments pre-
of outcrops of the tuff of San Felipe relative displacement within the marginal continental sented here, the total amount of opening of the
to reference localities in Baja California. areas of the Gulf of California rift adds 41 6 Upper Delfn segment of the northern Gulf of
Overall, however, sample localities on Isla 13 km of offset to the 255 6 10 km measured California is 296 6 17 km along an azimuth
Tiburon show significantly less clockwise by map-view restoration of correlative ignim- of 3148, of which 255 6 10 km has been ac-
vertical-axis rotation than sample localities in brite strata (Fig. 11). Offset of the tuff of San commodated within the ocean basin. This val-
Baja California. Therefore, no additional dex- Felipe from Punta Chueca to the northern Si- ue is the same as that indicated by offsets es-
tral displacement has been added from rota- erra Kunkaak indicates 20 6 10 km of dis- timated from Tertiary conglomerate (Gastil et
tion of localities on western Isla Tiburon. Lo- placement. Vertical-axis rotations documented al., 1973) and from pre-Tertiary batholithic
calities on coastal Sonora show 258408 by paleomagnetic studies add 21 6 9 km of and metamorphic rocks (Silver and Chappell,
clockwise vertical-axis rotation of outcrops of dextral displacement from the Baja California 1988; Gastil et al., 1991).
the tuff of San Felipe. This rotation may have margin (Lewis and Stock, 1998a). Additional
been caused by right-lateral shear in the coast- dextral displacement contributed by the Sac- Timing of Dextral Displacement
al zone between the Sacrificio fault and Isla rificio fault is unknown at present. However,
Tiburon. Dextral displacement accumulated outcrops of a distinctive conglomerate in the Isotopic ages for the tuff of San Felipe, tuffs
by rotation of these localities is tentatively at- Sierra Seri that correlate to outcrops in the of Mesa Cuadrada, and the tuffs of Arroyo El
Figure 10. (B) Preferred and (A and C) alternative map-view restorations of conjugate rifted margins of the upper Delfn and Tiburon
basins in the northern Gulf of California. (B) Map view showing 255 km of dextral displacement restored along an azimuth of 3128
relative to Puertecitos, Baja California. This restoration best matches features near opposite shorelines of the northern Gulf of California
in an east-west alignment. (A and C) Alternative interpretations showing 265 km and 245 km of displacement restored along an azimuth
of 3128 relative to Puertecitos, Baja California. The 265 km restoration closely restores the edges of mapped outcrops but misaligns
distributions of the tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon and the tuffs of Arroyo El Canelo. The 245 km restoration reasonably aligns the
extent of correlative ignimbrites but requires a greater missing area of thick high-grade deposits between conjugate rift margins. Baja
California is held fixed in all frames. Coastal Sonora and Isla Tiburon are rotated 2.38 clockwise to account for finite rotation during
opening of the Gulf of California. Locations: CScoastal Sonora; PPuertecitos; PVPPuertecitos volcanic province; PRPunta
Reina; SASierra Alta; SFLSierra San Felipe; SFRSierra San Fermn; SMSierra Menor.
Canelo constrain the timing of dextral dis- across northeastern Baja California (Stock and directed continental extension from 12.6 Ma
placement in the Gulf of California. Restora- Hodges, 1990; Lewis and Stock, 1998b), in- to 6.3 Ma.
tion of northeastern Baja California to Isla Ti- cluding minor distributed dextral displacement
buron indicates that 255 6 10 km of opening on the Matom accommodation zone (Nagy, Dextral PacificNorth America Plate
occurred in the Upper Delfn basin after em- 2000). However, the low magnitude of exten- Motion in the Northern Gulf of California
placement of the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada at sion across Baja California and Isla Tiburon
6.3 6 0.2 Ma and the tuffs of Arroyo El Ca- (10% to 40% across a 100-km-wide zone) Restoration of conjugate rifted margins of
nelo at 6.1 6 0.5 Ma. Likewise, vertical-axis does not approach the 160 6 80 km of east- the Upper Delfn basin of the northern Gulf
rotations measured in the continental margin directed extension predicted by the plate- of California defines the history of dextral
of Baja California also postdate emplacement circuit model of Stock and Hodges (1989). plate motion in the Gulf of California (Fig.
of the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada (e.g., Tmr3 and Additional extension and right-lateral shear 12). Finite rotations derived from a plate cir-
Tmr4 of Lewis and Stock, 1998a). Together, within mainland Mexico probably makes up cuit (Atwater and Stock, 1998) define the full
these displacements add up to 276 6 13 km PacificNorth America plate motion of ;760
the balance of strain necessary to complete the
since ca. 6.3 Ma. Northwestward displacement km along an average azimuth of 3048 from
plate circuit (Gans, 1997; Henry and Aranda-
of 20 6 10 km between Isla Tiburon and the 15.1 Ma (chron 5b, time scale of Cande and
Gomez, 1992).
Sacrificio fault accrued after emplacement of Kent (1995)) to the present. Prior to 12.5 Ma,
In summary, timing information for dextral
the tuff of San Felipe at ca. 12.6 Ma. the Magdalena microplate separated the Pacif-
displacement between Baja California and
Northeastern Baja California and Isla Ti- ic plate from the North America plate offshore
buron do not show any evidence for signifi- mainland coastal Sonora supports substantial of southern Baja California (Mammerickx and
cant displacement on northwest-striking dex- dextral displacement of at least 276 6 13 km Klitgord, 1982). Subduction was dextral-
tral faults between 12.6 Ma and 6.3 Ma, from 6.36.1 Ma to the present. An additional oblique during this time (Atwater, 1989), and
despite widespread evidence for extension 20 6 10 km of displacement occurred some- some component of dextral plate-boundary
during this time period (Stock and Hodges, time between 12.6 Ma and the present in a motion may have been absorbed within the
1990; Lee et al., 1996; Lewis and Stock, region lacking dated rocks younger than 12.6 North American continent. However, deposi-
1998b). East- to northeast-directed extension Ma. No evidence firmly supports substantial tion of the tuff of San Felipe as a preexten-
during this time accommodated a component dextral displacement within or significant sional marker indicates that plate-boundary
of PacificNorth America plate motion (cf. opening of the Upper Delfn basin segment of motion probably did not occur within the
Stock and Hodges, 1989). East-directed exten- the Gulf of California rift prior to 6.3 Ma, ex- northern Gulf of California area west of coast-
sion took place on Isla Tiburon (Oskin, 2002), cept for a component accommodated by east- al Sonora prior to ca. 12.6 Ma. Since 12.5 Ma,
Figure 11. Tectonic block diagram illustrating distributed deformation of the continental margins of the Upper and Lower Delfn basins.
See Figure 2 for present configuration. The Gulf of California is shown closed by 255 km between Isla Tiburon and Baja California
(see Fig. 10 for rationale). Closure of the Lower Delfn basin is by restoration of Isla Angel de La Guarda to an uncertain position
southeast of Puertecitos (Lonsdale, 1989; Stock, 2000). The La Cruz block is shown restored southeast of Isla Tiburon, adjacent to Isla
Angel de la Guarda. The original position of this block is poorly constrained. Paleomagnetic declination anomalies for the tuff of San
Felipe, relative to the Mesa Cuadrada (MC) paleomagnetic reference site, shown by circular plots. Table DR1 (see footnote 1) lists
paleomagnetic remanence values and declination anomalies. Clockwise rotation of 308 6 158measured from the tuff of San Felipe and
the tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada (Lewis and Stock, 1998a)defines the San Felipe rotated domain on the Baja California rifted margin and
accommodates to 23 6 9 km of dextral shear along a 3408 azimuth. Displacement of tuff of San Felipe outcrops between Isla Tiburon
and coastal Sonora resulted in 20 6 10 km of dextral displacement and rotation of tuff of San Felipe outcrops. Additional right-lateral
displacement on the Sacrificio fault is unknown. Paleomagnetic sample localities from Lewis and Stock (1998a), Stock et al. (1999), Nagy
(2000), and Oskin et al. (2001).
coast-parallel PacificNorth America plate Gulf of California (Fig. 1) define these com- mented that the rate of seafloor spreading here
displacement has been divided into a compo- ponents. Continental extension in the Gulf ex- was 10%15% less than the full PacificNorth
nent of dextral displacement accommodated tensional province accommodated a signifi- America displacement rate prior to 1 Ma. This
across the Gulf of California, primarily after cant component of the total plate motion lower rate is shown as a deviation of the rate
6 Ma, and a second component of dextral dis- (Stock and Hodges, 1989) but contributed lit- of motion across the Gulf of California from
placement accommodated outside of the Gulf tle to opening of the Upper Delfn basin prior the PacificNorth America plate-circuit rate
of California, primarily prior to 6 Ma (Fig. to 6 Ma. (Fig. 12). At 3.6 Ma, this discrepancy is sig-
12). The age and offset of correlative ignim- The paleomagnetic record of seafloor nificant relative to the error for these recon-
brites across the northern Gulf of California spreading in the Alarcon basin defines the slip structions. The rate of seafloor spreading in
and the paleomagnetic record of seafloor history in the Gulf of California from 3.6 Ma the Gulf of California in the past 1 m.y. is
spreading in the Alarcon basin in the southern to present (Fig. 12). DeMets (1995) docu- indistinguishable from the full PacificNorth
in central California successfully reconcile placement in the Gulf of California from 12.5 nental margins of the Upper Delfn basin
PacificNorth America motion measured from Ma to 6.3 Ma probably does not exceed the would probably result in exhumation of lower-
continental-deformation and plate-circuit data 20 6 10 km estimate for displacement and crustal levels. Exhumation of middle to lower
(Dickinson and Wernicke, 1997; Atwater and rotation of outcrops of the tuff of San Felipe continental crust as a metamorphic core com-
Stock, 1998). Similarly, displacement and tim- east of Isla Tiburon. plex (cf. Gonzalez-Fernandez et al., 2000) and
ing information from the Gulf of California Alternatively, higher estimates of displace- exhumation of serpentinized continental-
reconciles the majority of plate-boundary mo- ment for the southern San Andreas fault (Eh- mantle lithosphere (Nicholas, 1985) have been
tion in northwestern Mexico since ca. 6 Ma lig et al., 1975; Powell, 1993) could require proposed to have produced part of the basin
(Fig. 12). In southern California, these data up to 390 6 20 km of dextral displacement floor in the northern Gulf of California. (2)
require that most of the dextral shear trans- within northwest Mexico (Dickinson, 1996). Strain partitioning does not appear to be a suf-
mitted through the Transverse Ranges to the To accommodate this slip would require ;100 ficient mechanism to compensate for opening
Salton Trough (Fig. 1) occurred after ca. 6 Ma. km of dextral displacement east of the Gulf of of the Upper Delfn basin because faulting of
Most models of the San Andreas fault sys- California, most of which would have had to the appropriate magnitude has not been de-
tem in southern California are compatible with occur prior to ca. 6 Ma. Significant problems scribed from the ocean basin or its margins.
offsets and timing measured in the northern remain in reconciliation of this higher slip val- Strain partitioning as proposed by Nagy and
Gulf of California, despite a range of slip es- ue in southern California (Richard, 1993). Ex- Stock (2000) requires substantially more sub-
timates for the southern San Andreas fault isting data from northwest Mexico cannot rule sided continental margin than is indicated, al-
from 150 to 180 km (Matti et al., 1992) to out substantial dextral displacement east of the though variations on this model could involve
240 km (Ehlig et al., 1975). When summed Gulf of California during Miocene time. Ul- exhumed or transitional crust. Significant con-
with additional displacement for other struc- timately, up to 350 km of dextral displacement jugate strike-slip faulting may also be expect-
tures away from the San Andreas fault trace, is required in northwest Mexico from 12.5 Ma ed to disrupt throughgoing transform faults in
both slip estimates overlap or exceed the 276 to 6.3 Ma (slip discrepancy in Fig. 12). Most the ocean basin, contrary to the existing in-
6 13 km of dextral displacement measured for of this slip is usually assigned to dextral dis- terpretation of the Tiburon Fracture Zone
the northern Gulf of California since ca. 6 Ma. placement on the Tosco-Abreojos fault zone (Fenby and Gastil, 1991) (Fig. 1). Present-day
The most significant of these additional dis- west of Baja California and extension in the crustal structure and volcanism in the northern
placements are 12 6 2 km of slip from the Gulf extensional province (Spencer and Nor- Gulf of California and Salton Trough indicate
Elsinore fault (Hull and Nicholson, 1992), 45 mark, 1979; Stock and Hodges, 1989) (Fig. 1). recent crustal formation in the absence of con-
75 km of shear by rotation of the eastern However, observations from southern Califor- tinental crust and thus support possibility 3
Transverse Ranges (Richard, 1993; Dickinson, nia and evidence for strike-slip faulting east that crustal rupture occurred at some time dur-
1996), and possibly up to 22 km of slip on of Isla Tiburon (Gastil and Krummenacher, ing opening of the northern Gulf of California
the Agua Blanca fault (Allen et al., 1960). Ad- 1977) and in southeastern Sonora (Gans, (Herzig and Jacobs, 1994; Couch et al., 1991).
dition of slip from the Agua Blanca fault to 1997) indicate that additional field work is Our results from matching conjugate rifted
the Gulf of California is problematic because necessary to address the distribution of dextral margins cannot determine if or when each of
this fault appears to terminate before reaching shear during middle to late Miocene time. these processes may have contributed to open-
the Gulf extensional province (Allen et al., ing of the Upper Delfn basin. However, our
1960; Lee et al., 1996). A slip of 26 6 2 km Implications for Crustal Structure of the results do require that any mechanism to open
on the San Jacinto fault (Sharp, 1967) is in- Northern Gulf of California the Upper Delfn basin must preserve most of
cluded with estimates for the San Andreas the surface area of the upper continental crust
fault. Foundered upper continental crust probably on the basins rifted margins.
If only 150180 km of slip has occurred on forms only a small component of the crust of
the southern San Andreas fault (Matti et al., the Upper Delfn basin of the northern Gulf CONCLUSIONS
1992), the total dextral displacement measured of California. The proximity of restored con-
in the northern Gulf of California requires a jugate rifted margins of the Upper Delfn ba- Four pyroclastic flow deposits, with a total
considerable amount of slip along the San Ga- sin segment of the rift indicates that the miss- of eight cooling units, are correlated from
briel fault (Fig. 1). Adding 60 6 5 km of slip ing width of continental surface area is northeastern Baja California to Isla Tiburon
measured for the western San Gabriel fault unlikely to exceed 25 km (Figs. 10 and 11). and coastal Sonora. These pyroclastic flow de-
(Crowell, 1974) yields a total of 289 6 18 to This result implies that ;1000% southeast- posits are the ca. 12.6 Ma tuff of San Felipe,
300 6 21 km dextral displacement from directed extension has occurred within the Up- the 6.3 6 0.2 Ma tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada
southern California that would have been per Delfn basin. Most likely, opening of the (units Tmr3 and Tmr4), the tuffs of Dead Bat-
transferred into the Gulf of California (Dick- Upper Delfn basin has been accomplished by tery Canyon (unit Tmr5), and the 6.1 6 0.5
inson, 1996). These values overlap the 296 6 a combination of (1) large-magnitude exten- Ma tuffs of Arroyo El Canelo (including the
17 km total-displacement estimate for the sion of the foundered edge of the continental El Oculto, El Canelo, Bighorn Sheep, and
northern Gulf of California. An acceptable margin, (2) strain partitioning through conju- Flagpole units). Restoration of the ca. 6.3 to
match is also obtained by adding only 22 6 gate strike-slip faulting and/or northeast- 6.1 Ma tuffs indicates 255 6 10 km of dextral
1 km slip measured for the north branch of directed extension or to fill in the gap left by displacement, at an azimuth of 3128, between
the San Gabriel fault (Ehlig, 1981), yielding a opening of the basin, and (3) rupture of the northeastern Baja California and western Isla
total of 269 6 13 to 280 6 16 km dextral continent and formation of new transitional Tiburon. This restoration also satisfies the dis-
displacement transferred into the Gulf of Cal- oceanic crust. Because of the narrow width of tribution of the tuff of San Felipe, supporting
ifornia (Dickinson, 1996). These estimates missing continental surface area, (1) signifi- the conclusion that almost all opening of the
both support the conclusion that dextral dis- cant finite extension of the foundered conti- Gulf of California took place within the past
6 m.y. Offset pyroclastic flows and paleomag- logical Society of America, Geology of North Amer- Fletcher, J.M., Eakins, J., Sedlock, R.L., Mendoza-
ica, v. N, p. 2172. Borrunda, R., Walter, R.C., Edwards, R.L., and Dixon,
netic declination anomalies support an addi- Atwater, T., and Stock, J.M., 1998, PacificNorth America T.H., 2000, Quaternary and Neogene slip history of
tional 41 6 13 km of distributed deformation plate tectonics of the Neogene southwestern United the Baja-Pacific plate margin: Baha Magdalena and
States: An update: International Geology Review, the southwestern borderland of Baja California: Eos
within northwest-trending zones on both mar- v. 40, p. 375402. (Transactions, American Geophysical Union), v. 82,
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San Diego State University, 75 p. sion in southern Sonora: Implications for the tectonic
segment of the northern Gulf of California. At Burchfiel, B.C., Lipman, P.W., and Zoback, M.L., 1992, evolution of northwest Mexico: Tectonics, v. 16,
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America plate boundary became localized in the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the Late Cre- and Chart Series MC-16, scale 1:150,000.
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the Upper Delfn basin over a short time in- search, v. 100, p. 60936096. geology of coastal Sonora between Puerto Lobos and
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northern Gulf of California. This slip history inces of the Californias, in Dauphin, J.P., and Simo- American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bul-
also requires that most of the activity of the neit, B.R.T., eds., The Gulf and Peninsular provinces letin, v. 57, p. 746747.
of the Californias: American Association of Petroleum Gastil, R.G., Phillips, R.P., and Allison, E.C., 1975, Recon-
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basin accounts for all but a 2025 km width Division of Mines and Geology Special Report 118, California: Geological Society of America Bulletin,
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Support was provided by National Science Foun- for PacificNorth America motion from 3 Ma to upper Gulf of California using deep seismic and grav-
dation grants EAR-9614674 and EAR-0001248 and present: I. Evidence for steady motion and biases in ity data, in Magana, L.C., ed., MemoriasV Reunion
a grant from the University of California MEXUS the NUVEL-1A model: Geophysical Research Letters, Internacional sobre la Geologa de la Pennsula de
program. We appreciate the support of Jaime v. 26, p. 19211924. Baja California: Loreto, Baja California Sur, Univer-
Roldan-Quintana and Carlos Gonzalez-Leon, of the Dickinson, W.R., 1996, Kinematics of transrotational tec- sidad Autonoma de Baja California, p. 6970.
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Per- tonism in the California transverse ranges and its con- Henry, C.D., and Aranda Gomez, J.J., 1992, The real south-
tribution to cumulative slip along the San Andreas ern basin and range: Mid Cenozoic to Late Cenozoic
mission to enter Isla Tiburon was granted by the
transform fault system: Geological Society of America extension in Mexico: Geology, v. 20, p. 701704.
Secretara de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales Special Paper 305, 46 p. Herzig, C.T., and Jacobs, D.C., 1994, Cenozoic volcanism
and the Cumcaac (Seri) Indian Tribe. Prescott Col- Dickinson, W.R., and Wernicke, B.P., 1997, Reconciliation and two-stage extension in the Salton Trough, south-
lege Research Station, Baha Kino, generously pro- of San Andreas slip discrepancy by a combination of ern California and northern Baja California: Geology,
vided logistical support during field studies. We are interior Basin and Range extension and transrotation v. 22, p. 991994.
especially grateful to our Cumcaac guide, Ernesto near the coast: Geology, v. 25, p. 663665. Hull, A.G., and Nicholson, C., 1992, Seismotectonics of the
Molina. Scott Dobner, Matt Bachman, Robert Hous- Dixon, T., Farina, F., DeMets, C., Suarez-Vidal, F., Fletcher, northern Elsinore fault zone, southern California: Seis-
ton, Jason Wise, Naomi Marks, and Lesley Perg as- J., Marquez-Azua, B., Miller, M., Sancjez, O., and mological Society of America Bulletin, v. 82,
sisted with field studies. Discussions with Gary Umhoefer, P., 2000, New kinematic models for p. 800818.
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Axen, Arturo Martn-Barajas, Elizabeth Nagy, and
II. Evidence for a Baja California shear zone: Geo- Vazquez, J., 1996, Middle Miocene extension in the
Claudia Lewis, and reviews by Paul Umhoefer and physical Research Letters, v. 27, p. 39613964. Gulf extensional province, Baja California: Evidence
John Fletcher contributed to the development of this Dokka, R.K., and Merriam, R.H., 1982, Late Cenozoic ex- from the southern Sierra Juarez: Geological Society of
paper. California Institute of Technology Publication tension of northeastern Baja California, Mexico: Geo- America Bulletin, v. 108, p. 505525.
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